TRAVEL FEATURE - I n d i a
MARIA VISCONTI (w o r d s ) / VIKAS PANGHAL (p i c s )
T FORGET YOUR
ard about dune
do you know you
he top of a high
middle of the
sthan, India? And
e there if you were
s? I’d personally
s, you read right...
about tree hugave
even done it
t the logging of
e know about the
ice?
otorbikes but
about a pilgrims’
oyal Enfield,
took itself back
f its crash?
en Demoiselle
thousands?
-known Rajasthan
e after multiars
to this most
nt state. There is
han the beautiful
ity and the Lake
City…read on
Rajasthan roads are well designed
and well maintained but this time,
nearing our destination, the Dera
Dune Retreat, our instructions were
to wait by the spectacular Bishnoi
Temple in Jamba.
A rider materialised in a few minutes.
He motioned us to follow. We
did.
Then the going got exciting. Sand,
sand and more sand everywhere for
some 15 minutes with barely discernible
tracks in the surface.
Finally, out of the desert flats a
high dune appeared on the horizon
topped by what looked like a fort,
not an uncommon site in Rajasthan
where forts and palaces abound.
The final push was steep and
slippery with a bit of fish-tailing but
we made it to the gate. At the top, a
line-up of five staff members in jodhpurs
greeted us with raised arms and
brilliant smiles. We had arrived at a
luxury resort of unexpected surpris-
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